Joseph Pacheco was the first Latino superintendent of schools in New York. Now he is an elderly, retired gentleman who lives in Sanibel Island, Florida. But as a native Nuyorican, he grew up bilingual. And one of his earliest childhood memories was a holiday trip to his mother’s native town on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

It was on that trip that Pacheco experienced holiday parrandas first-hand. But, as a youth, he was surprised that Santa Claus didn’t make it to the island every Christmas Day. Instead, Tres Reyes Magos brought presents on January 6th.